DISD Ed Tech News
February 26, 2018
Google for Education Announces New Facebook Page
Google for Education has just announced that they have also added a new Google for Education Facebook page where teachers can get product updates, insights, lesson inspiration, event information and more. Take a look and follow their channel on Facebook at this link.
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Flippity.net Adds Yet Another Classroom Resource
Teachers can take a list of words and turn them into online flashcards, have them put into an online spelling word manager or turn them into online games such as Flippity Memory Game, Flippity Mad Libs or Flippity Mix & Match. Students can also play Flippity Crosswords, Flippity Word Searches, Flippity Bingo or play Flippity Hangman, all from the spreadsheet of words that teachers upload on the website. There is a colorful random name picker that is generated from a spreadsheet of student names and teachers can take advantage of a tournament bracket generator or a colorful progress indicator, all produced from a Google sheet of student names.
Flippity added the Flippity Quiz Show tool a while back, where a teacher can easily turn a Google spreadsheet into a trivia game show for playing in class and their newest tool is the Flippity Typing Test. They have a number of default passages that you can use as a typing speed activity, such as the US Constitution Preamble, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, etc. but the real power of this tool comes when a teacher enters their own reading passage, article, etc. into a spreadsheet and turns it into a typing test. Teachers are basically "killing two birds with one stone" in that they can get students to read a selected reading passage or article of their choice and at the same time having students practice their typing skills.
Yellkey Custom URL Shortener
You may be familiar with the chrome extensions bit.ly and goo.gl, both of which have some great features. Both make a long URL short for sharing with students and groups. Goo.gl also provides analytics and a QR code for the shortened link as well. Bit.ly allows the user to make custom URL links where you can select the words in the shortened link (as long as the link does not already exist). Both are great extensions for your Chrome browser to quickly make a complicated and long URL manageable. You can find the extensions in the Chrome Web store here and here.
Yellkey is a free website where you just paste in the URL you want shortened but you can also set the time that you want the shortened URL to be active. In addition, yellkey produces a shortened url that is a common word. This makes it easier for students to type in the shortened URL, resulting in less instructional time lost. Check it out at www.yellkey.com.
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Email members of a Team Drive
Note: For DISD teachers who have not yet explored Team Drives, you will see a link to Team Drives in the upper left menu of your Google Drive. You can create a Team Drive to share files, folders, etc. with others. All members of the Team have ownership of the items stored there so it is an easy way to share materials and information and not have to worry about who the "owner" of a particular document or folder is. This is ideal for teacher teams wanting to share materials.
Posted: 12 Feb 2018 in GSuite Update Alerts
Team Drives make it easier for teams to store, search, and access important files, especially as team members change over time. To improve collaboration in Team Drives, we’re adding the ability to email all the members of a Team Drive.
- From the Team Drive: Navigate to the Team Drive, click the drop-down menu next to the Team Drive name, and click “Email members.”
- From within a file that is in the Team Drive: While editing or viewing the document, open the File menu, and click “Email Collaborators.”
- From the Team Drive: Navigate to the Team Drive, click the drop-down menu next to the Team Drive name, and click “Email members.”
- From within a file that is in the Team Drive: While editing or viewing the document, open the File menu, and click “Email Collaborators.”
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Google Drive Keyboard Shortcuts to Save You Time
z - Move a file or folder
Moving a file or folder in Drive is an important tool for staying organized. Select the file or folder and hit the z key, and it’ll open up a window where you can decide where you’d like to move it.
n – Rename a file/folder
The typical way to rename a file in Drive is to right-click on it and select Rename. However, you can do this with a single keystroke instead. When you have a file selected, just hit the n key and the rename window will automatically open.
. – Share a file/folder
If you’re sharing a file, you usually click on the Share icon up at the top, or right-click the file and choose Share. But again, you can do this with a keyboard shortcut instead. This time, just select a file or folder and hit the period button. Then, the share dialog window will open and you can share it with others.
s – Star a file/folder
Another organizational tool is starring items in Drive so that you can quickly pull up a list of the most important files you have stored. Typically, you’d right-click on the file and click Add Star. (These files are then easily accessed by clicking on the “Starred” list on the left-hand side of the screen.) You can star files even more quickly by just selecting them and then hitting the s key. To unstar the file, hit s again.
qq – Adjust the display density
Do you like seeing a lot of space between your files? Or perhaps you like a more compact view? To adjust the display density of your Drive file list, just hit q and then q again. You can toggle through the settings (just hit qq again) to choose the display setting that you like best.
v - Toggle View
Select a file or folder and hit v to toggle back and forth between the "list view" and the "grid view".
i - Toggle Details View
You may already know to click the small "i" in the upper right to see the "details view" of a folder or file but hit the letter i to accomplish the same thing without using your mouse.
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Tech Trainings for Teachers
As we approach the Spring everyone begins checking to see if they need professional development hours. Please remember that the Instructional Technology staff is here (year-round) to help you in any way that we can. Need a one-on-one tutorial because you don't feel comfortable asking questions in front of a group? Need some content or tool specific training for your departmental PLC? If you (or your students) need some training, whether it's G Suite, useful student and/or teacher Google Apps & extensions, software programs, etc. please email us to set something up. You are free to come to the Teacher Training Center (TTC) for trainings or we can come to your room or campus if that is easier for you.
There are also ten recorded webinar e-courses available in Eduphoria that teachers can sign up for. These one-hour recorded webinars cover a variety of classroom tech tools and teachers can view the webinar and answer questions as they view to earn credit for the course. To access these courses go to Eduphoria and click on e-Courses. The instructions for accessing each online course are in the Notes section of the course after you register for it in Eduphoria.
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DISD Instructional Technology
Jenetta Baxter, Instructional Software Specialist
Email: rhonda.artho@dumasisd.org
Website: http://www.dumasisd.org/about-education-instructional-technology
Location: Teacher Training Center, DHS
Phone: 806-935-6461 1029